Quotation
We would be delighted to attend your property to conduct a full site survey and provide you with a formal quotation. Due to the nature of our business, it is very difficult to provide accurate quotations over the telephone.
Our quotation service is free, and there is no obligation to proceed with our service. The quotation service is provided by our senior professionals who have many years’ experience within the Imprinted Concrete Paving business.
Installation
Scheduling A Start Date
As soon as you have accepted the terms of our quotation, we will require you to complete a formal order to allow works to proceed. We will then be in a position to provide you with an estimated start date for commencement of works. This date will be convenient to both Paverprint and the customer.
The installation process is entirely weather dependent. During the week prior to scheduled commencement of works, we will contact you with a more accurate start date. However, it should be noted that the start date provided will always be subject to variations in weather reports and forecasts.
Site Preparation
Prior to installation by our experienced team, the site will need to be fully cleared and prepared. The average Paverprint project can require up to 24 tons of material to be removed, so wherever possible we will use plant and machinery. However, when access requirements do not permit use of machinery (for example in a restricted rear garden) the excavation will be done by hand. We normally plan to undertake the preparation and excavation works in one to two days and will inform you if we envisage the works taking longer.
The base will be prepared and new MOT Type 1 road planings or scalpings will be used to achieve a well compacted flat base, prepared to the correct drainage falls.
Any additional drainage requirements are provided for, and all manhole covers, drains or drainage channels are installed. All surface levels are monitored to ensure that when the concrete is laid, the fall of the paving will adequately direct rainwater to the desired drainage.
Once the preparation has been completed and the shuttering has been installed, we will ask you to confirm that the layout of the prepared area meets your requirements, prior to the final installation of the imprinted concrete paving.
Subject to the weather (or interpretation of a weather forecast by Paverprint), we will install the paving the next available dry day following the preparation works. Should there be a delay due to weather (or any other mitigating factor), the site will be left in a presentable and tidy condition to minimise disruption and inconvenience.
Site Installation of your Paverprint product
Once we have established a favourable weather forecast, we can commence the main process of the Paverprint installation. We aim to arrive on site approximately one hour before the concrete is scheduled for delivery. During this time, we prepare the site for the installation, including protecting your property and any adjacent structures from any discolouring or damage from the concrete. The concrete will arrive in a volumetric truck or premix lorry. The concrete is unloaded as quickly as possible by the Paverprint team, generally using wheelbarrows. The wet concrete is distributed evenly in the area to be paved, and is then raked to the pre-determined levels to a depth of 100 mm. Once the concrete has been leveled and screeded, a roller tamp is rolled over the surface of the concrete to remove any small undulations. Large magnesium floats attached to long poles are then used to ‘float’ the surface of the concrete. At this stage we now have a flat, wet, grey concrete slab.
The real craft of installing the Paverprint product has only just begun! After floating, the concrete is coloured with the chosen colour (primary colour). This is a powdered dry material called Colour Surface Hardener (CSH). It is cast by hand over the surface of the concrete and is allowed to hydrate before being worked into the concrete. This process is repeated, to ensure that the area is not patchy and a uniform colour is achieved. In certain conditions, a third application of CSH may be applied to ensure a uniform and durable coloured surface is achieved. A coloured ‘antique’ release agent is then applied to the wet and coloured concrete. This serves two purposes: primarily, it is to prevent the printing mats from sticking to the concrete and secondly, it will be seen to impart a secondary two tone effect to the surface of the paving. This effect will only be apparent when the paving has been washed off, a number of days later, when the concrete has hardened. The concrete is imprinted with the chosen pattern, and is then left to harden. The site is then tidied and cleaned and we depart.
Washing off
Once the paving has been laid and it has had two to three days to completely harden, the Paverprint team will return to site to ‘wash off’ and install contraction joints into the concrete. The paved area is swept to remove excess antiquing release agent.The concrete is then treated with a release agent wash, which breaks down the release agent powder and enables more efficient removal of the powder. The paving is then cleaned with a high pressure water jet to remove the release agent. A dilute acid wash is applied to the clean surface to remove any release agent contaminants from the top of the paving. The paving is thoroughly washed again with the high pressure washer.
Sealing
The new paving must be thoroughly dry before the sealant can be applied. In the summer months, this can sometimes be undertaken on the same day as the washing off process. Generally, the sealing is carried out on the next available dry day. When the sealant is applied, a bead of coloured silicone joint filler is inserted into the cut contraction joints. This inhibits the build up of dirt, which in turn inhibits weed growth. After sealing, we will also ensure that any manhole covers lift freely.
Thats it !!
Your new Paverprint Pattern Imprinted Concrete paving is complete!
